Dark Fae
by NekoChan-1995
Summary: Damien is the oldest Carpathian warrior, serious and driven by duty. Kyra is a Faerie, fun-loving and playful. Kyra is also Damien's lifemate, though she will not admit it or come to him easily. Now, he has to make his lifemate, who is as powerful as he is, fall in love with him or all hope for him is lost. Rated M for obvious reasons.
1. Chapter 1

Damien Radovsky moved silently through the woods, fighting back the vicious hunger and urge to feel after centuries of empty existence as he sensed the evil that was hiding there. He was aware that the vampire knew of his presence, just as he was aware that this would be his last battle before he met the dawn. He kept himself alert, knowing that an attack could come from any direction.

When something, or rather someone, fell on top of him, however, he was surprised. They both fell to the ground and she rolled off of him before getting up and he thought he saw a faint shimmer of what looked like wings before the illusion disappeared and he stood up.

"Sorry about that. Gotta work on my landing." the voice was soft, had a lilting, musical accent, and he was nearly blinded by all of the colors he was suddenly seeing. He focused on HER and just soaked her in. She was tall for a woman, but curvy, with generous breasts, a small waist with flared hips, and long legs. Her skin was pale, but glowed with energy. But her face was what really drew him in, she had long silvery-white hair, exotic ever-changing eyes that flashed from color to color, high cheekbones, an aristocratic nose, and a sinfully full mouth. Elation filled him. This was his lifemate.

She glanced at him. "You okay? Cause there's a vampire around here somewhere and you gotta go so that I can deal with it."

"Deal with it?" Damien didn't like the sound of that. This was his lifemate and she was going to be somewhere safe when the vampire struck.

"Yeah. You know. Kill it." She grinned. "It's a rite of passage for my people. Stick my hand in it's chest, pull out the heart, incinerate it. The whole big thing."

"Rite of passage?" Damien was confused.

"Yeah. So I can be an adult." She looked him over. "You're Carpathian, aren't you? Well, you back off. I've waited a long time for this."

The attack came from behind her and before he could even think to protect her, she whirled around with a deadly gracefulness and the vampire impaled himself on her outstretched hand. She winced, but as Damien went to help her, he ran into a barrier and she shoved her hand deeper into the vampire's chest cavity. The vampire screeched and clawed at her, but she pulled out his black, wizened heart and without a moment's notice, her hand burst into flame, including the heart. The flames traveled to the vampire, as well as up her arm, ridding her of every trace of the vampire's blood.

When it was all over, she danced a little. "Finally! I'm an adult." She glanced at him. "Sorry about the barrier. Couldn't let you interfere. Every hunt I've tried, a Carpathian hunter has tried to protect me. It's worse than being back home with the overbearing men there."

"Who are you?" Damien asked.

She grinned and leapt on top of a boulder with a graceful flourish and bow. "Kyra of the Royal Faerie Family at your service." Beautiful silver wings came into view at her back. "And you are?"

"Damien Radovsky." he told her, moving to help her down. As he held her hand in his, he kissed where he had seen the vampire's blood. "And you are my lifemate."

Kyra burst into laughter. "That's a good one, but I'll be going now. One of us has to have good sense." He did not relinquish his hold on her hand and the color of her eyes seemed to settle on a dark brown for a moment before starting to change again. Fury filled her and he felt her power build. "Let go of me, Damien."

Damien did not and sent a question to Dominic Dragonseeker, his oldest friend, through their shared mental path. _Do you know anything of the Fae._

Surprise was immanent in Dominic's reply. _Faeries have long been thought gone._ _But they were very powerful allies and worse enemies._ _Why do you ask this?_

Damien sent him images of Kyra. _She is my lifemate._

Laughter was sent across the link. _Then you must tame the un-tameable._ _Their species died out because the women didn't want to stay with the men. Too free-spirited._

Damien growled and faced his lifemate, annoyed. He tried to push into her mind, but was immediately blocked out. Frustrated, he pulled her hand to him and turned it. He sank his teeth into her wrist and drank just enough for a true exchange, managing to close the pinpricks before he lost control of the beast. With that, he was able to enthrall her enough to walk to him and drink from the slash he opened on his chest. She fought it, but he held firm, forcing her to drink enough for the exchange. He felt fire heat his blood as her mouth worked against him and his groin tightened painfully, but he ignored it. When she had drank enough, he released her and healed the wound.

She looked at him with fear now. "What did you do? You started something. What did you do?"

_ I connected us_, csitri._I have not yet bound you in the way of my people, but I will if you continue to run from me._. Damien spoke the words in her mind, reveling in the new, intimate, connection, even as the beast in him demanded more.

XxXxX

Kyra took a step back and tried to catch her breath. "No. No. Nonononono." He touched her cheek with his fingertips, a gentle gesture that was probably meant to soothe, and she panicked. "No! Do you know what you've done? I was finally free!" She choked it out, feeling more than a little distressed. "Now you've trapped me again! I can't have you in my head! Undo it!"

"I cannot." Damien stated. "You are my lifemate. You might as well get used to it."

Kyra felt her freedom slipping away. She searched her mind for all the information she had on Carpathians. She searched her mind for why she had come to the mountains in the first place. "I need to see your Prince. I need to see Mikhail." Fury that wasn't hers burned through her and she saw the loneliness in his eyes. Felt his need to have her look only at him. She lost the tremulous control she had over her gifts under the onslaught of his emotions and fire burst out along her arms and legs and started spreading. "STOP IT!" she shouted.

His emotional attack stopped, but it took her a while to reign in control. "You cannot see my Prince." Damien stated once she had.

"I can do whatever I want. And it's urgent business only." Kyra tried not to notice how when he was in control, Damien was gorgeous. He was tall, broad-shouldered, with long black hair, chiseled features, merciless black eyes, and a sensual mouth with a serious tilt to it. He was also Carpathian.

Without a lifemate, he would succumb to the darkness or meet the dawn. Her heart ached for him, but he was domineering and overbearing and bound to want to marry her in the way of his people and she couldn't do that. She'd waited three hundred years for freedom and she wasn't letting it go once she'd gotten it. And being with a man like Damien would be a loss of freedom. A loss of everything she'd ever dreamed of.

_I'd give you anything you ask for_. Damien told her.

_Except my freedom_. Kyra answered in the way of lifemates without noticing. "Take me to Mikhail."

"Fine." Damien nodded.


	2. Chapter 2

Kyra followed Damien into Mikhail Dubrinsky's home, terrified of her sudden connection to him and apprehensive about meeting another person of power. She could sense two others in the home and their strength, but was unsure of who they were. She didn't like such feelings and immediately blamed Damien. Before him, she had been strong and confident. Now she was turning into someone pathetic.

_Never pathetic_, CSITRI. Damien's voice echoed in her mind again. _Only nervous_.

_GET OUT OF MY HEAD_! She screamed it at him through their link as they approached Mikhail, a small woman with long black hair and very blue eyes, and another man, this one with silver eyes.

Nervous, she settled on the formality of her people and bowed. "I am Kyra of the Royal Faerie Family."

"There is no need to bow. I am an ordinary man when I am at home." Mikhail smiled.

"It is simply a formality of my people." Kyra grinned back. "I would prefer not to do it, but if my brothers found out, they would have my head."

"So, the Fae are not gone from this world as we thought." the silver-eyes one mused.

"Of course not." Kyra scoffed. "We may not settle down for long, but we have many children before we leave. I have eight brothers. Now, who are you?"

"Forgive me for not making introductions." Mikhail stepped in. "This is my lifemate, Raven, and my second, Gregori Daratrazanoff."

Kyra focused on Gregori. "The Dark One."

"My reputation precedes me." Gregori nodded.

"Vance wanted to destroy you if you turned." Kyra stated calmly, not impressed in the slightest.

"You disappointed him." Damien started to growl and she felt all of his emotions start to pour into her again, the uppermost; jealousy that she would speak the name of another male so casually. It was a fight for her to control the fire this time, one she lost after a struggle and it spread quickly. "Stop it! Stop _feeling_! It's too much!"

Damien's flood of emotions stopped after a few moments and she was able to pull the flames back under control. "You should not speak of-"

"Stop it! I'm not your lifemate!" Kyra looked at the scorch marks in the wood she was standing on. "I'm so sorry, Mikhail. I can fix those."

"It's fine, honey." Raven smiled. "We can take care of it as well."

Kyra felt someone push at her mind and she turned on Gregori. "No. Don't even try. You won't get in without drinking my blood and I'm not letting you. I didn't let him-" she pointed at Damien, "either and he forced it. Now, he's in my head and I can't get him out."

XxXxX

Mikhail felt unfamiliar power surge in the air and traced it to Kyra. It was pouring off of her in waves and she didn't seem aware of it. "I am sorry if we caused you distress. What has brought you here?"

"Vance, my eldest brother and the leader of our people, wants me to inform you that if you don't take care of the vampire problem, he will. While it is a rite of passage for our people to kill a vampire to enter adulthood, we fear that there are far too many vampires and far too few hunters and many of those hunters are on the brink as it is. Vance thinks the end of your species will be best if you cannot stop your men from turning." there was wariness in her voice and Mikhail caught how she made sure to inform her that her brother thought these things, not her.

_Shall we send a message back?_ Gregori sent the impression of flashing his fangs.

_No. Not yet. Look at her. She doesn't agree._ _Besides, we've seen what she can do when she loses control. I want to know more_. Mikhail turned to Kyra. "And what do you think?"

Kyra's chin flew up and her ever-changing eyes met his steady black ones. "Teach your women to fight. And tell my brother that he's an idiot. Someone has to."

_I like this woman_. Raven laughed in Mikhail's mind. _She's bold_.

_Yes, she is_. Mikhail agreed, looking at Damien. _She is perfect for our oldest warrior_.

_She'll chew him up and spit him out_. Raven was still amused, but was starting to feel sorry for the stoic warrior in the corner of the room who's eyes never traveled from Kyra.

_That is exactly what he needs_. Mikhail sent reassurance to her before looking to Kyra. "Have you ever fought a vampire?"

"Seventeen, although I only managed to kill this last one. He was recently turned, so it was easier than with the others. And I managed to block any interference. Usually one of your warriors stops me or my brothers come and tell me I'm in too much danger because I'm trying to go up against a master vampire." she looked annoyed. "They didn't realize that was the POINT. I wanted to kill the Malinovs because they're the most dangerous, but instead I got stuck with a fricking fledgling. A _fledgling_. And I still had to put up a barrier to stop him from interfering." She gestured toward Damien and rolled her eyes. "Honestly. I'm not a weakling. I'm one of the most powerful Faeries alive. And I'm not a child. I'm three hundred years old. Usually this is finished by two hundred."

Mikhail was finding it hard to hide his amusement. The Faerie woman was entertaining. He sent a message along his shared path with Damien. _Have you claimed her yet?_

_No she fought the blood exchange because I couldn't get into her mind, so I had to force it._ _I don't want to force anything else_. Damien's face remained impassive. _She also denies that she is my lifemate, though I know she feels the pull_.

_The Fae were thought to hae died out because the women did not want to settle down_. _You might have to force your claim. Love will come later._ Mikhail advised. _She is amusing. I like her._

_She has risked her life too many times for a rite of passage._. Damien snarled.

"Stop talking about me." Kyra eyes flicked from Mikhail to Damien. "I know you were. I can feel it." Mikhail looked at her, shocked she would have detected the conversation, let alone the fact that it was about her. Before he could speak, she did. "Mikhail, I want protection from him. I don't want him to claim me. I'm _not_ his lifemate and even if I am, I _refuse_ to settle down. I'm finally free from my brothers and I can go wherever I want and do whatever I want. And there is no way I'm becoming half-Carpathian. Because that's what would happen. It's not a full conversion and I'm more than happy as a Faerie." Her voice was rising in pitch and Mikhail detected panic. "And I will _not_ have the chance of losing a child no matter what. So, I want protection. I know I can ask for it if he wants to claim me and damn it, that's what i'm doing."

_Mikhail, this poor girl is terrified of being with Damien_. Raven touched his mind.

_I think it is because he forced a blood exchange physically_. _He couldn't have touched her mind for the compulsion beforehand_. Mikhail told her. _You saw Gregori try to touch her mind. She detected him and blocked him._

_She is so young_. Raven stated.

_She is older than you_. Mikhail sent amusement through their link.

_She just went through a rite of passage to become an adult. I've been an adult much longer, as you know_. Raven reminded him. _Damien must woo her_.

_It won't work. The Fae women have always been free-spirited. They never tayed long with the men they had children with. He has to claim her._ Mikhail sighed. _She will have to learn to love him._

_Mikhail! You cannot take away her choice like that._ Raven was angry.

_I must. Damien is too close to turning. I could feel in his mind that he thought to seek the dawn this night. _Mikhail sighed and noticed that Kyra had been aware of the entire exchange between himself and his lifemate. "I cannot offer you the protection you seek."

XxXxX

Damien saw the horror flick across Kyra's face. "Then I must go. I _refuse_ to be a lifemate."

She moved to the door, but he intercepted her. "Do you really think I will allow you to leave me, _csitri_?" He saw the awareness flicker in her eyes and she backed up a step. "I claim you as my lifemate." She asked him to stop. "I belong to you. I offer my life for you." She pleaded with him to stop. "I give to you my protection, my allegiance, my heart, my soul, and my body." She _begged_ him to stop. "I take into my keeping the same that is yours." She sobbed, still begging. "Your life, happiness, and welfare will be cherished and placed above my own for all time." Her sobs turned to fury and she violently cursed at him in several languages, including her own. "You are my lifemate, bound to me for all eternity and always in my care." The curses continued as he grabbed her wrists and pulled her out of Mikhail's home and into the night.


	3. Chapter 3

Even as Kyra fought him at every turn on the way to his lair, Damien took in her beauty. She was more ethereal in the night than any Carpathian woman he'd ever seen. Her silvery-white hair seemed to catch the moonlight and her skin glowed. She was cursing him vehemently in her own language and he took in every word just to listen to the sound of her voice, which seemed to him a sweet melody, even though it was sharp with anger.

When the reached the cave that led to his lair deep beneath the earth, her eyes widened and her struggles increased. "No. Not in there. Not beneath the ground."

Damien touched her mind and was immediately surrounded in her fears. She was afraid of not being able to see the sky, cave-ins, small spaces, and being buried alive.

"You will be perfectly safe with me, _csitri_." he kept his voice calm and soothing. "I will protect you from all harm."

Fear shone in her eyes and she shook her head and backed away, trying to free her hands from his grasp. "I can't. Even if I was under the threat of death, I can't. Not in a cave. The only thing nice in there is the colony of bats."

"You like bats." Damien could not stop the smile.

Her chin rose in defiance. "I like all winged creatures. But that's not the issue here." She struggled to get away from him again. "I'm _not_ going in there."

"You will be safe in there. With me." He told her.

"No, I won't." she sobbed. "Don't make me go in there."

Damien frowned. Having a lifemate was becoming much more of a pain than he thought it would be. He let go of one of her wrists to grab her around the waist, picked her up, tossed her over his shoulder, and he took her into the cave. He expanded the walls of the tunnels to let him pass with her, who was beating on his back and demanding her release. He didn't let her go until they were in the underground cavern and his safeguards were in place.

He looked at her and frowned. Outside, Kyra had been confident and a little fierce. Inside the cave, she looked withdrawn and scared, like a child. She was murmuring to herself and when Damien caught the words, he didn't recognize them as anything other than something in her language. When a mirage of stars burst out on the ceiling, he understood that it had been a spell.

"I have to go to ground for the day, as you know. You can't get out, but there is food for you and a bed." He conjured a luxurious bed with a wave of his hand. "There is a pool in the next cavern if you wish to bathe."

Kyra didn't even spare him a glance. "I loathe you, you know."

"You will learn to love me." Damien shrugged, touching her mind and finding her need to get out of the cave. Knowing that she couldn't, he opened the earth and laid down before closing it over his head.

XxXxX

When Damien awoke, he knew something was wrong. The sun had just barely set, so he knew there had been no disturbance throughout the day, but he couldn't sense Kyra's presence. He burst out of the soil and saw her in a corner of the cave, curled into herself, sobbing, and muttering. He touched her mind and found . . . chaos. She was terrified, thinking the ceiling would come down any second, the walls of the cave were definitely getting smaller, and she felt suffocated.

"_Csitri_, look at me." Damien was starting to feel guilt and it was an ugly, raw emotion. She didn't even glance his way. He knelt in front of her and grasped her hands. "Kyra." Her eyes shifted to his face. "I need you to stand up." She whispered something in her own language, shaking her head. He merged his mind with hers. There were still some carefully guarded barriers, but there was one memory that burst through him. She was maybe nine, exploring a cave with one of her brothers when half of the tunnel they were in collapsed, trapping her. Her brother was crushed underneath the rubble and it took her other seven brothers two weeks to find them. Guilt washed through him as he realized she had relived that memory over and over the entire day. "I'm so sorry, _csitri_." He picked her up like a child and gently carried her out of the cave.

XxXxX

Kyra slowly became aware of the cool breeze on her face. She opened her eyes slowly and looked around. Either she was outside, or Damien had created a damn good illusion. She realized he was carrying her and managed to push herself out of his arms and flew up, into the sky. She flew around in circles for a little while before landing softly on the ground. She then turned her attention to Damien.

"_Never_ force me underground again." she glared at him.

"Well, you're going to have to go willingly then." Damien told her. "I understand your fear, but I can't protect you during the day."

"I don't need protection!" Kyra shouted. "I'm just as powerful as you and I can use that power to take care of myself!"

"I have a duty to protect you. You are my lifemate." he was calm and it was infuriating.

"I'm. Not. Your. Lifemate." Kyra snarled through clenched teeth right before another Carpathian materialized.

"Is everything okay over here? I heard shouting." the guy was tall and broad-shouldered with long black hair streaked with gray. He was handsome, but didn't compare to Damien. Kyra cursed herself mentally for comparing the two.

"It's fine, Razvan. Just an argument." Damien shrugged.

"Razvan, I told you not to get involved." a beautiful Carpathian woman with scars crisscrossing over her entire body walked up to them.

Kyra recognized her immediately. "You're Ivory Malinov."

The woman, Ivory, looked at her, defiance flashing in her eyes. "So, what if I am."

"You are quite possibly the best known woman in the female Fae world. Every one of us admires the strength and courage you possess." Kyra explained.

Ivory shifted from foot to foot. "Razvan, we need to go. The wolves are getting restless."

Razvan just nodded and they left.

"You know Ivory?" Damien looked surprised.

"Not personally." Kyra shrugged.

"How much of the Carpathian world do you know about?" he looked curious.

Kyra couldn't suppress a giggle. "As much as I want. The plants tell me. Or the animals. All I have to do is ask."

"The plants?" Damien frowned.

"Yep." Kyra nodded and did a somersault in the air. "Everything has a spirit and is alive. And if you listen just right, you can hear them. It's the best feeling ever to be in tune with them."

Damien gave her a strange look. "How do you get in tune with them?"

Kyra grinned, unable to stop it, and walked over to him. "You use your magic. It wells up here," she touched a hand to his chest, over his heart, "and then you let it flow through your veins as you touch whatever plant is connected to the earth. Then, you can communicate with _everything_."

"Show me." he demanded.

Kyra laughed. "I can't. You have to just _know_. That's how magic works. Nobody can teach you. You have to figure it out for yourself."

"Is that how you were raised?" Damien frowned.

"That's how every Faerie is raised." Kyra shrugged. "Besides, I had eight brothers that my father was more worried about. I learned how to take care of myself early on."

"Doesn't seem like a loving relationship." Damien frowned. He seemed to do it a lot. She was starting to find it annoying.

Kyra shrugged. "There's no such thing as love."

Damien stared, looking not just shocked, but deeply insulted by it. "You can't possibly believe that."

"I do." Kyra told him. "I may live with my head in the clouds, but I'm not stupid. If love was real, things in this world would be a lot different."

"Do all Faeries share you're particular opinions?" Damien asked.

"I don't know." Kyra flew up high enough that she could do flips and spins in the air. She felt the need to MOVE. She'd been underground too long. "I've only met a couple outside my family."

"Do your brothers have the same psychic abilities as you?" Damien sounded annoyed as she did a loop-do-loop.

She thought about it and landed softly on the ground in front of him. "They can sense other people's telepathic conversations, but not what they're about and they can't block out a psychic assault like I can. And I'm the only one who can control and create fire. I can also control the other elements a bit more than most other Fae, but not to the same degree. My brothers mostly control air or water. And my youngest brother, my twin, controls the earth. Plants and stuff."

"Are you the strongest?" Damien sounded genuinely curious.

"No. Vance is. He's the oldest and can control all of the elements equally." Kyra sighed. "But he's so annoying now that he's the king. He used to be fun. It's a shame I lost the fight for leadership."

"You fought your older brother for leadership?" Damien frowned.

Kyra chuckled at his stern face. "Oh, calm down. We fought till first blood, so it wasn't all that dangerous. And I almost got him with a fireball too. But then he used water as a sheild and managed to swipe my arm with his sword while I was distracted."

"Why were you fighting him for leadership?" Damien asked, looking disapproving. He had that look a lot.

"Because I was the only one that was strong enough to challenge him. That's the way it works." she shrugged. "When the king or queen is tired of ruling or dies, their children fight for the right to rule.

Vance and I are the strongest, so we fought."

Damien frowned. "Isn't that dangerous?"

"Not really." Kyra grinned. "It was really fun."

"You have too much fun." Damien frowned.

"You don't have enough." she accused, poking him in the chest.

Damien crossed his arms. "There are more important things to worry about than fun."

Kyra shook her head. "There's nothing more important than fun and freedom."

"Why does freedom pop up in _every_ conversation I have with you?" Damien muttered.

"Because you stole my freedom." Kyra stated. It was true in her eyes. There was no point in running if he could just find her anyway with their blood-bond.

"You can go wherever you want." Damien told her.

Kyra frowned, more than pissed off. "With you following right behind, I'm sure. It's worse than being back home."

"Of course I'd come with you. I'm your lifemate." Damien was matter of fact.

"I'm not your lifemate." Kyra snarled before opening her wings and flying into the night.

XxXxX

Damien frowned and took the form of a bat to fly off after Kyra. He'd just gotten her and he wasn't going to let her escape. He was already in love with the way she laughed, the way her eyes never seemed to settle on one color longer than a second, the way the moonlight shone off her hair.

However, she disappeared into the night and he could feel that she wasn't close anymore. He cursed and reached out with the blood bond and found her. . . in the U.S. Ignoring the distance, he spoke to her over their link.

_What the hell are you doing in Texas?_

_Getting away from you_. Kyra's voice was filled with annoyance. _And proving that I'm not your lifemate. If I was, I'd feel the separation between us, but I don't._ He could feel that that was a lie. She was feeling it so strongly she didn't know what to do.

_Come back now_. Damien ordered, more than a bit fed up with her wilfulness.

_Why should I?_ Kyra's voice was softer now. _You're worse than my brothers_. She showed him memories of her brothers forcing her to stay in the palace when she wanted to fly, forcing her to study in a classroom, trying to force her into staying at the palace when it was time for her to slay a vampire to become an adult, and interfering with her vampire hunt. _Why should I go back to someone that plans on doing the same thing they did to me?_

_ Because our souls are one. You can't escape it_. Damien told her. _And_ if you leave me for too long, _I can still become a vampire. We have not completed the ritual bonding. I can still succumb to the darkness._  
_You have to change if we're going to do this_. He could feel her determination. _I won't leave if you loosen up. You can't follow me everywhere and you need to learn how to have fun._

Damien frowned. He still didn't think he had time for fun. He left the shape of the bat and stood in the middle of the forest._ Fine. But you have to admit you're my lifemate._

_You can't try to convert me._. Kyra's mental voice was firm.

_We'll get to that when we get to it._ Damien told her. _Admit you're my lifemate._

"We'll get to that when we get to it." Kyra walked out of the trees, dressed casually in jeans and a tanktop. Her hands were in her pockets. "You can't try and take control of everything."

Damien found himself studying every inch of her. Her long silvery-white hair was pulled back in a ponytail, showing off the exquisite structure of her face. Her eyes were still flashing from color to color, but they were more solemn, serious colors. He could just barely see an outline of her wings. "You can't leave me again."

"Deal." Kyra nodded. "If you put sex on hold until I say otherwise."

"Deal." Damien shook her hand, already regretting the last part of the decision.


End file.
